The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
